2-3rd November 2015, Dublin

Dr Ellen Tullo presented on a multidisciplinary module about ageing that involves older people and was able to exchange ideas with other other academics that use intergenerational learning as an approach.

Full abstract: As the numbers of older people in society increase, gaining an awareness of the needs of an ageing population is important for university students from all academic backgrounds. Using a multi-disciplinary approach to ageing, we developed a new teaching module (NU-AGE) aimed at undergraduate students from any academic background. In acknowledgement of the important role that members of the public can play in higher education, we recruited a team of older adults to help design and deliver the module. The NU-AGE curriculum was constructed through collaboration between students and members of the public to outline both the pertinent challenges facing an ageing society, and the positive aspects of ageing. The team of older adults helped us to develop and deliver a series of interactive teaching sessions for a cohort of undergraduate students from diverse academic backgrounds, designed to encourage inter-generational discussion and debate. Involvement of older adults throughout the development, delivery and evaluation stages of the NU-AGE module has proved to be feasible, and early analysis of evaluation data suggests that students and members of the public highly value the opportunity to interact and exchange ideas about the importance of ageing in society.

Dr Ellen Tullo, Biomedical Research Centre for Ageing and Chronic Disease

Dr Laura Greaves, Newcastle University Institute for Ageing

Dr Luisa Wakeling, School of Dental Sciences